This page takes a specific look at how New Jersey performed in the study.

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This page takes a specific look at how New Jersey performed in the [[Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States|study]].

==Background about the study==

==Background about the study==

Line 49:

Line 49:

New Jersey was one of eight states to demonstrate [[Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States? Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years|a dramatic partisan shift]] in the 22 years studied. A dramatic shift was defined by a movement of 40 percent or more toward one party over the course of the study period.

New Jersey was one of eight states to demonstrate [[Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States? Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years|a dramatic partisan shift]] in the 22 years studied. A dramatic shift was defined by a movement of 40 percent or more toward one party over the course of the study period.

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The chart below depicts the partisanship of New Jersey state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. New Jersey had Republican trifectas from 1994-2011 and Democratic trifectas from 2004-2009. There were four years when New Jersey finished in the top-10, all of those years with Republican trifectas.

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The chart below depicts the partisanship of New Jersey state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. New Jersey had Republican trifectas from 1994-2001 and Democratic trifectas from 2004-2009. There were four years when New Jersey finished in the top-10, all of those years with Republican trifectas.

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how New Jersey performed in the study.

Background about the study

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992-2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

New Jersey Governor

From 1992 to 2013, New Jersey had Democratic governors in office for 10 years while there were Republican governors in office for 12 years, including the last four.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

New Jersey Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the New Jersey State Senate for the first 10 years and the Republicans were the majority for the last 10 years.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

New Jersey House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the New Jersey House of Representatives for the last 12 years and the Republicans were the majority for the first 10 years.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Partisan control changes

There were four partisan control changes in New Jersey during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting New Jersey equal to the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

New Jersey’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 16.33, which puts it at 14 in the overall SQLI ranking.[1]

The years that New Jersey had the highest ranking were 1999 and 2000, in which it ranked 6th.

The year that New Jersey had the lowest ranking was 2012, in which it ranked 36th.

The index type that New Jersey had the highest ranking in was Personal Income Per Capita and Poverty Rate, in which it ranked 2nd.

The index type that New Jersey had the lowest ranking in was State/Local Tax Burden, in which it ranked 49th.

New Jersey SQLI 1992-2012

Index

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

21

37

46

America's Health Rankings

24

23

24

22

21

25

24

23

22

21

21

21

16

19

15

18

15

18

17

17

8

CAFR Debt/GDP

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

41

42

40

40

42

46

45

N/A

Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

37

45

45

46

47

47

47

45

CNBC Top States for Business

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

15

18

24

22

30

41

Forbes Best States for Business

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

16

19

34

45

40

44

36

Govt. Employment Share Population

19

18

17

16

13

14

13

12

12

13

15

17

18

20

21

21

19

19

16

16

18

Graduation Rate

12

8

7

7

5

8

6

1

11

7

1

1

1

1

1

2

7

5

6

5

6

Personal Income Per Capita

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

3

3

2

2

3

3

3

3

Poverty Rate

7

15

9

3

8

10

2

10

3

10

4

6

4

2

8

5

7

4

13

11

N/A

Real GDP per capita

5

5

5

4

4

4

5

5

6

6

6

6

6

7

7

7

7

7

7

8

N/A

S&P Credit Rating

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

11

21

20

36

17

20

21

24

26

26

45

45

State Govt. Spending/GDP

32

22

23

30

22

14

18

13

11

14

17

20

21

24

25

22

20

21

26

27

N/A

State & local tax burden

49

48

49

48

48

46

46

48

46

48

48

49

49

49

49

49

49

49

49

N/A

N/A

Tax Freedom Day

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

48

Unemployment Rate

43

45

44

44

43

37

32

33

22

20

35

33

20

19

29

24

31

31

33

37

46

Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

46

39

44

N/A

Voter Turnout

24

38

38

19

19

43

43

22

22

37

37

22

22

34

34

14

14

46

46

19

19

Well-Being Index

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

24

29

24

29

31

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

New Jersey was one of eight states to demonstrate a dramatic partisan shift in the 22 years studied. A dramatic shift was defined by a movement of 40 percent or more toward one party over the course of the study period.

The chart below depicts the partisanship of New Jersey state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. New Jersey had Republican trifectas from 1994-2001 and Democratic trifectas from 2004-2009. There were four years when New Jersey finished in the top-10, all of those years with Republican trifectas.

SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 18.67

SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 9.75

SQLI average with divided government: 21.86

Chart displaying the partisanship of New Jersey government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

External links

Footnotes

↑Note: The average rank is compiled by adding up all years of rankings and then dividing by 21 to obtain the average state ranking. This average figure is ranked relative to the rest of the 49 states to derive an overall SQLI ranking.